Excelsior True believers! July has come to a close with a litany of summer movies vacations, TV events and more. But let’s look beyond all that and see what we all went out and bought in the realm that’s a little closer to my heart & wallet, Comics!

Diamond Comic Distributors have released their sales results for July and while some things stay the same, there are some nice little changes as well.

The top 10 comic list for the month has the usual mash-up of DC v Marvel, but of particular note is that 4 of the top 10 are new #1 issues. Clearly the marketing blitzkrieg that we all just witnessed for Guardians of the Galaxy has paid additional dividends as Rocket Raccoon #1 led the month by a wide margin. Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo’s oversized finale to the Zero Year saga Batman #33 came in second. Spiderman titles proved that he’s still “Amazing” taking both the 3rd and 5th slots, while Marvel’s summer event Original Sin was able to capture two spots as well, taking 4th for issue #5 and 6th for appropriately – issue #6. Justice League seems to be holding on to its audience fairly well, as #32 comes in at 7 while new comer and recently reviewed Grayson #1 debuts at #8, one spot above another brand new title The Legendary Star Lord #1. And the little overrated comic that could (hey, don’t hate me, I’m still buying it) Harley Quinn rounds out the top 10 with her 8th issue.

All those new releases catching on with readers gave a Juggernaut sized lift to the industry, with comic units increasing almost 30% over the month of June and 15% over last year’s July number. For the year, sales dollars are slightly up, but units are still down by a little over 3%. A few more months like this one though, and positive comps are right around the corner. Though I personally hope to see a return of Batman: Eternal to this list as it’s my favorite Bat-title being written today.

While Marvel and DC may slug it out in the single issue category, GN & TP are ruled by the folks over at Image. Dominating with 5 of the top 10 titles, the house that delivers The Walking Dead & Saga show that people are very willing to shell out the money for quality stories, and that compilation trades are still as popular now as ever.

For the top 10 books, as opposed to the graphic novels and trades, we see The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide Volume 44 take the top 2 spots (soft & hard covers respectively) and then a slew of Art books and Artists Editions along with what may be my favorite title I’ve seen in years coming in at number 5 “William Shakespeare’s The Jedi Doth Return” hardcover. The Bard and Jedi mash-up?……. Yeah, you get my money.

As you grow up, the toys don’t disappear; they just evolve and get more expensive. (As my wife will attest to) For the best-selling toys of July, I must say that I’m extremely surprised that the folks at Marvel didn’t do more to capitalize on the growing Guardians of the Galaxy buzz and press as they have a grand total of 0 characters from that property on this list. Maybe next month will change that. DC however creates some of the best looking statues (toys I’m being told in my ear) that you’ll see, and the releases of Jim Lee’s New 52 styles continue to have a big presence in this month’s list.

So there you go Amigos. Thank you to everyone who is going out and keeping your local comic book shops alive and thriving; and a personal thank-you to everyone at Diamond Comic Publishing for doing what they do. If you enjoy and want to see more content like this, let us know in the comments section. Until next time, make sure your books are bagged & boarded, and keep the guano off my Cowl.

How does Diamond calculate the charts? It all starts at the comic book shop.

Data for Diamond’s sales charts — which includes the monthly market shares and all top product charts — are compiled by Diamond Comic Distributors from sales made to thousands of comic book specialty shops located in North America and around the world. Additional sales made to online merchants and other specialty stores may be included as well.

Unit and dollar market shares are calculated based upon orders for comic books, graphic novels, and magazines invoiced and shipped to Diamond customers during any given month, which comprises pre-orders, advance reorders, and reorders, minus any copies that are received back from a title marked as returnable. Please note that comics marked with an asterisk (*) have had their reported quantities reduced due to retailer returnability, and thus may rank lower on the charts than their actual sales would reflect.

The New Titles Count Chart includes all titles that were invoiced by Diamond to retailers for the first time during the month and is not the official solicited title count for the month. Variant edition comic books and graphic novels at the same price point count as a single SKU. Variant edition comic books, lenticular covers, digital combo packs, and graphic novels at different price points count as separate SKUs for each edition.

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ABOUT DIAMOND COMIC DISTRIBUTORS (DCD)—Diamond is at the nexus of comics and pop culture merchandise. Based in Baltimore, MD, DCD is the world’s largest distributor of English-language comic books and pop-culture related merchandise, servicing thousands of specialty retailers worldwide. For more information, visit Diamond on the web at www.diamondcomics.com.